OK, so he really wants to run all of Time Warner! A good read from The Hollywood Reporter's Paul Bond:
No knock on his "good friend" Jeff Bewkes -- or on Superman -- but Ted Turner wishes that he was running Time Warner so that he could make some changes at Cartoon Network and CNN, the cable news channel he founded 29 years ago.
At CNN, he wants "less fluffy news and more international news," especially about China, Turner says in an interview set to run on Bloomberg TV on Friday. "Less talk, more news," he says.
As for Cartoon Network, Turner tells anchor Betty Liu, "If I had control of it, I'd put 'Captain Planet' on at a top time period so that kids would see the environmental superhero instead of just Superman."
More lamenting from Turner, who wishes he hadn't sold out to Time Warner
Oh Ted Turner, you and your Captain Planet. =)
Ted is 100% on.
CNN has a huge upsize advantage right now. They are not committed with any anchor, besides Anderson Cooper. CNN really has a fresh canvas to go any direction that they wish to go. CNN already has a huge international division that puts on shows. IF CNN wanted to actually gain ratings, they should take some of Ted’s advice. Less talk–more news.
They are trying to be the anti-partisan news, by providing opinions on both sides. They should capitalize on the partisan sided cable news on msnbc and fox and switch formats completely.
There really is nothing to lose for them so I don’t see a problem with it. Ditch all their horrid political insiders who give commentary. Present the news with less spin. Focus on the world and how the United States fits within it.
Deal with the real news, instead of a dad and mom who are attention whores who hide their son in the attic, and they should spend money the same way the taliban does. Buy off people and get them to report from inside the war zone.
Their I-Report isn’t a bad idea. But if they want real news, buy out real people who are in Iran, Iraq, Afganistan, North Korea, the UK, Russia, Tibet, etc.
You want exciting news and can’t embed reporters—pay them off like you do your political correspondents who do nothing for your ratings.
CAPTAIN PLANET!!!
As a guy who loved Captain Planet as a kid and who still loves Captain Planet I wholeheartedly approve of Ted’s plan. I agree that CNN should focus more on international news. We Americans get very little good international news. I don’t care about what stupid thing a celebrity just did but I do care about whats happening in Egypt or England.
CNN has gone so far downhill since Ted’s days, that he could only improve things. It really was a respectable operation under Turner’s lead. Now it’s just another tabloidy sleazefest full of people like Wolff Blitzer who “earned” NEGATIVE $99,400 on CELEBRITY (ie for dolts, dunces and drug addicts) Jeopardy. It’s shameful.
Cartoon Network doesn’t need child propaganda like Captain Planet, but you would think that a network that has access to the greatest and most extensive cartoon library in the world could A) stick to running cartoons instead of D-list movies and horrid hidden camera crapfests, and B) actually show classic cartoons rather than new stuff that holds no interest to your average adult.
But Ted is dreaming if he thinks he’ll ever again have any say in this lifetime.
CNN International is A LOT better quality-wise than CNN within the US. They just need to get rid of Amanpour, she’s attrocious.
Propaganda, Paul? What are you, an anti-environmentalist?
Ted should just remain “Captain Planet”. We’d surely lose something of value, there.
But look again, and this time hold your ire until it’s done.
1. Someone fudged Wikipedia. Happens all the time. Who doesn’t know this?
2. CNN, like every state-run media service following the NYT lead, asserts that the quotes attributed to Limbaugh are real, with no other backup or vetting.
3. Race baiters (and long-time proven hoaxers) Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson rile a bunch of people, about whom the quotes were never made.
4. Rush loses his shot at a football team.
OK:
1. There’s a name for the school CNN people go to, to get the (theoretical) qualifications for doing the job. I don’t remember it; perhaps they don’t EITHER. Ah, yes: Journalism.
2. Tell me why they shouldn’t be sued?
3. If you replace “Rush Limbaugh” with “Al Gore” or “Will Farrell” or “Captain Planet”, would you feel differently?
Rush is just about the most color-blind man I’ve ever known. I’ve listened to his show, only the largest audience in America, second-largest on the PLANET, for nearly 20 years.
All this racism, sexism, ‘he’s so fat’ stuff comes from a bunch of people who can’t turn on a radio and listen for themselves, but continue to tell us they’re ‘hard journalists’ capable of ‘investigative reporting’ to ‘get to the bottom of the story’.
They’re lying.
This isn’t news; this is a propaganda mill. And if Ted were running it, it’d be no better.
If you like CNN, you really need to sit down and ask yourself: posting from Wikipedia, single-source: is that responsible?
CNN needs a major revamp. The whole “middle” thing isn’t working, especially trying to represent the left and right sides of every argument, even if said arguments are ridiculous (witness: the birther debacle. This shouldn’t have even made the air).
There is an audience for intelligent debate, and the only one on cable news currently offering even a semblance of it is Rachel Maddow. CNN needs to take that niche. 3rd place, even falling behind MSNBC, a network that was virtually invisible 5 years ago, is a pretty bad place to be.
Last time I paid attention to Ted Turner was during/soon after the AOL / Time Warner deal. He was already like your crazy old uncle then. He’s got to be absolutely a hoot today.
China News Network?
Turner has a point. We need more Bernard Shaws and less Rick Sanchezs, Kyra Phillipses, and soft-news Anderson Coopers (MJ coverage was relentless).
When is Superman on?
Cartoon Network where the kids can’t watch because they show girls gone wild commercials at every break, leaving nothing to the imagination. Real entertainment, not. All of this is a mute point because we lost all that infotainment when they pulled off the digital ripoff.
LOL at Captain Planet. I think Ted is way out of touch.
The best place for news right now is BBC news. They just tell the news as it happens and they dont try to take sides, they just tell it as it is. CNN should be doing this in America. I’m tired of left/right commentators going overboard screaming about this and that. All I want is the news, not someones opinion.
As for Captain Planet, that was a great cartoon when I was a kid. Time Warner make it a movie, and then a new cartoon. Oh what happened to Loony Toons or for that matter any WB cartoons. All I see kids watching are these odd Japanese animes, that seem to be watered down adult cartoons.
Some guy named John wrote: “…Oh what happened to Loony Toons or for that matter any WB cartoons…”
Classic Looney Toons isn’t considered politically correct for these progressive-thinking times. I’m thinking of collecting what I can find of LT before it’s banned forever. Too bad kids today don’t get to watch that kind of quality animation on TV.
I’m under the impression that Cartoon Network owns the entire libraries from MGM (Tom & Jerry, Droopy, Pink Panther), Warner Brothers (Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Animaniacs) and Hanna Barbera (The Flintstones, The Jetsons), as well as all of the DC superheroes like Batman and Superman, yet how much of any of these things do they actually show on the channel? Almost none.
They recently had the worst “Funniest Home Videos” type knockoff show I’ve ever seen, with that Bobby’J kid as the host. It was abysmallly bad, and it certainly wasn’t a cartoon.
Cartoon Network is really disappointing.
Ted, please bring back Bernard Shaw and Thundarr the Barbarian!
How about Ted just goes and creates some rival networks?
Dissapointed he didn’t mention CNNsi.
Q: What’s the difference between Olbermann & Maddow?
A: Maddow may actually have some balls!!
hehe